The present invention relates to a multipurpose pulverizer device, such as a garbage disposal, or food grinder, used for pulverizing food, garbage and the like. The device of the present invention is designed to adequately pulverize such material at restaurants or at individual homes.
Known pulverizers are practically restricted for use to pulverize either garbage such as in a garbage disposal, or food stuffs, such as grains and spices. Any such pulverizers that possibly could accommodate both uses, namely pulverizing of garbage and pulverizing of certain types of food stuffs such as grains and spices, are very complicated, and also very expensive to manufacture and utilize. The different requirements of a garbage disposal and a grain or spice grinder or pulverizer are such that different levels of cutting and grinding are required for the different material being processed due to the end product desired.
Another problem with many prior art pulverizing devices related to the leaking of offensive, odorous fumes from the inside of the device back through the inlet opening.
An object of the present invention is to improve upon the above-noted prior pulverizing devices to provide an economical, simple to manufacture, pulverizing device that can be selectively utilized for pulverizing garbage and for grinding food stuffs such as grains and spices. This object is achieved according to the invention by providing a multistage pulverizer with a central motor-driven shaft disposed inside of the pulverizer housing, with a manually adjustable mechanism for effectively adjusting, engaging and disengaging a final stage of pulverizing, dependent upon the desired level of pulverizing desired. In especially preferred embodiments of the invention, the adjustability of the last stage of pulverizing is provided by mounting a last stage cutting ring at the inside of the housing so as to be movable along a spiral track, with a manually engageable handle protruding out of the housing wall, whereby the vertical height of the cutting ring can be very simply manually adjusted between positions with a very fine cutting and grinding at the last stage, to a position wherein the material is practically not further pulverized at this last stage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pulverizer device which avoids by simple means the escape of smelly gases from inside the pulverizer back through the inlet opening. This object is achieved by providing a closure flap at the inlet of the pulverizer device, which closure flap is normally biased in a closing position and which is responsive to the supply of material to be pulverized to move away to permit entry of such material. In especially preferred embodiments, the closure flap includes a pivotally mounted flap at the housing, which has a weighted end at the outside of the housing for biasing the flap toward the closed position.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.